(Review & Tour) Stones for my Father (part 2)


Title: Stones for my Father
Author: Trilby Kent
Publisher: Tundra Books
Pages: 170
Pub date: March 2011

Source: I received a copy of this book from Tundra Books to read and review.

About the book:
The Boer War was disastrous for the British: 22,000 of them died. Close to 7,000 Boers died. Nobody knows how many Africans lost their lives, but the number is estimated to be around 20,000. This tragic, and little remembered, chapter in history is the backdrop for Trilby Kent’s powerful novel.

Corlie Roux’s father has always told her that God gave Africa to the Boers. Her life growing up on a farm in South Africa is not easy: it is beautiful, but it is also a harsh place where the heat can be so intense that the very raindrops sizzle. When her beloved father dies, she is left in the care of a cold, stern mother who clearly favors her two younger brothers. But she finds solace with her African maitie, Sipho, and in Africa itself.

Corlie’s world is about to vanish: the British are invading and driving Boers from their farms. The families who do not surrender escape to hidden laagers in the bush to help fight off the British. When Corlie’s laager is discovered, she and the others are sent to an internment camp.

Corlie is strong and can draw on her knowledge of the land she loves, but is that enough to help her survive the starvation, disease, and loss that befalls her in the camp?

Today I am lucky enough to be one of the host on the tour for Stones for my Father. You can check out the other blogs who have toured the book so far and read their reviews and interviews with the author Trilby Kent. Thanks Tundra Books and Slyvia for allowing me to be a part of this tour.

In 2009, I got to read and review Trilby’s debut YA novel called Medina Hill and really enjoyed it so when I was given this chance to review Stones for my Father I couldn’t resist.

Stones for my Father is completely different from Medina Hill. The story is set during the Boer War in South Africa.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I don’t read historical fiction or anything on wars but I am always willing to make the exception when it comes to an author I have read in the past and enjoyed. I do remember learning about the Boer Wars briefly in history class when I was in high school but sadly history wasn’t my strong point so needless to say as I started to read the book little bites and pieces would surface and I would say “Oh yea I remember that now.”

I think had they made history a little bit more fun I think I would have enjoyed it more and thankfully thanks to blogging it has given me the chance to experience and enjoy books that I would normal not pick up and read.

Once I started to read about Corlie (a twelve year old girl) I quickly became engrossed in the story and managed to read it in one sitting. The story isn’t just about the Boer War but one girls struggle to survive when it seems like the odds were stacked up against her.

There was times that I wished I could have jumped in the book and stood up for Corlie when it was evident her mother was mean and nasty towards this little girl. I think living in this siutation forced Corlie to grow up sooner that she needed too. Her mother was a real piece of work and you could see through out the story that she favored Corlie’s brothers over her.

When the family has to leave because the British are coming they take what little they can and head to meet up with the others at the laagers. Shortly after meeting up at the laagers they are invade and the women and children are sent to the internment camp.

Life at the internment camp isn’t all that perfect, people are dying from dieases and starvation. Food and water is rationed and if you are lucky you will get food but barely enough to survive. Thankfully Corlie and her family are able to get food but Corlie manages to help out the other women of the camp to get some extra food. Things are going good until Corlie makes a mistake and does the wrong thing. Before she knows it she is being called a thief and is kick out of the tent by her mother.

Will she survive on her own? Or will someone come to her rescue?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Double Blog Dare Tour

Welcome and hello! I am truly honored to be part of the The Double Blog Dare Tour with Tundra Books. This is might be your first stop if your a reader of mine or not so hop on over to check out these other blogs who are part of the tour today:

Rachelle from Living Between Wednesdays
Open Book Toronto
Helen from Helen’s Book Blog

When I got these books in the mail I did a little research and discovered that Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventure and Alison Dare, The Heart of the Maiden by J Torres and J Bone were actually published in 2002 and Tundra Books was re-releasing these two.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Alison Dare: Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft in fabulous, graphic adventures.Alison Dare is not your typical twelve-year-old. She’s the daughter of an archaeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab. To top it off, she’s also the niece of an international super-spy; it’s no surprise that a craving for danger is in her blood! Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan’s Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more “normal” life for their daughter.

But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals – Wendy and Dot – somehow manage to find themselves involved in adventures that rival those of Alison’s globetrotting, planet-saving relatives. Whether it’s magic genies, super-powered bank robbers, or a dastardly baron bent on world domination, Alison Dare delivers the best thrills since Indiana Jones and more action than Lara Croft!

ABOUT THE BOOK
Alison Dare: Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft in fabulous, graphic adventures.Alison Dare is not your typical twelve-year-old. She’s the daughter of an archaeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab. To top it off, she’s also the niece of an international super-spy; it’s no surprise that a craving for danger is in her blood! Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan’s Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more “normal” life for their daughter.

But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals – Wendy and Dot – somehow manage to find themselves involved in adventures that rival those of Alison’s globetrotting, planet-saving relatives. Whether it’s magic genies, super-powered bank robbers, or a dastardly baron bent on world domination, Alison Dare delivers the best thrills since Indiana Jones and more action than Lara Croft!

PLEASE NOTE: Images and about the book were taken from the Tundra Books Website.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
J. TORRES is a Shuster Award-winning, Eisner Award-nominated writer whose credits include adaptations of Disney/Pixar’s WALL-E and CTV’s Degrassi: The Next Generation, the comic book series Teen Titans Go and Wonder Girl for DC Comics, as well as the graphic novels Lola: A Ghost Story and the YALSA-listed Days Like This for Oni Press. He has also written for children’s magazines, books, and television.

J. BONE is an Eisner Award-nominated illustrator of several critically acclaimed comic books and graphic novels, including Spiderman: Tangled Web, Batman / The Spirit, and Paul Dini’s Mutant, Texas.

I have to send out a huge thank you to Sylvia from Tundra Books for contacting me about this tour and sending me the books to review.

MY THOUGHTS
Being graphic novels they were both a quick read as both books were under 100 pages and we were able to read them both in a day.

After reading them Michael turned and said “mommy she is like Indiana Jones but instead of being a man she is a girl.”

I think seeing that Alison is 12 years old, Michael could relate to her (he is 7). There is some mystery and tons of adventures in both books. Although as much as he liked Alison he did say that it would be cool to have a dad who is a masked hero.

It was really nice to read these graphic novels because for once the boy isn’t the super hero and it gives the girl who read this the chance to know that they two can be super heroes and that girls are just as smart as boys.

Thanks again Sylvia for allowing us to be a part of the tour and for reviewing these great graphic novels. They will be enjoyed over and over again I am sure.

I always thought that Tundra Books was awesome but now I know they are truly awesome. Since they are re-releasing both Alison Dare graphic novels they are running this super sweet contest and you can check out more about it on their site Tundra Books Contest to see what it entails.

Check back later today when I will post something special with Alison Dare.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Tyranny Review

TITLE: Tyranny
AUTHOR: Lesley Fairfield
PUB DATE: October 2009

ABOUT THE BOOK:
In Tyranny, brisk, spare text and illustrations that deal head-on with anorexia propel the reader along on Anna’s journey as she falls prey to the eating disorder, personified as her tormentor, Tyranny.

The novel starts with a single question: “How did I get here?” The answer lies in the pages that follow, and it’s far from simple. Pressured by media, friends, the workplace, personal relationships, and fashion trends, Anna descends into a seemingly unending cycle of misery. And whenever she tries to climb out of the abyss, her own personal demon, Tyranny, is there to push her back in. The contest seems uneven, and it might be except for one thing: Anna’s strength of character has given rise to her deadly enemy. Ironically, it is that same strength of character that has the ultimate power to save her from the ravages of Tyranny.

Brilliantly and realistically presented, Tyranny is a must-read for anyone looking for a better understanding of eating disorders and for everyone looking for a compelling page-turner that is truly a story of triumph and hope.

MY THOUGHTS:

I have to thank Sylvia at Tundra Books for sending me Tyranny. I took part in the Medina Hill tour and as a thank you she said I could pick out a book from their catalog and this is what I picked.

The book is done as a graphic novel something that I recently discovered and I am enjoying them. It was a quick read with an important message in it.

In our daily lives we are bombarded with images of super thin girls and we try to look like them no matter the cost to ourselves. We are pressured by the media (magazines, tv, movies etc), fashion trends, celebrities, the work place, the malls etc to look like those girls.

This is exactly what this graphic novel is about. Its about a girl named Anna who has an eating disorder. She is struggling to over come it but can’t because of her subconscious, Tryanny telling her she is fat and not to eat.

No matter how thin or close to death Anna gets she still sees herself as fat and unworthy. Anna began this destructive cycle when she got her period for the first time and went shopping with her mom. She saw the difference in her body. What is normal she saw as fat.

At first Anna started dieting but only by counting calories, then to not eating food, and then she started to binge and purge. From all the binging and purging she got very sick but still whenever she looked into the mirror she kept seeing herself as fat.

Out of panic one day her mother visits her because Anna hasn’t answered her phone. She is shocked at what she sees and get Anna the help she needs. She is admitted to the hospital. With the help of her psychiatrist she started to see things clearer.

Can she make it work? Will it take the death of her friend to make her realize what she is doing to her body is wrong?

STATISTICS:

-An estimated 1 in 100 American women binges and purges to lose weight.

-Approximately 5 per cent of women and 1 percent of men have anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder.

-It is estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 Canadian women aged 13 to 40 have anorexia nervosa and twice as many have bulimia.

-Each day Americans spend an average of $109 million on dieting and diet related products.

WEBSITES WITH MORE INFO:

National Eating Disorder Information Centre:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lesley Fairfield is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design in illustration. Her work appears in many children’s books. Lesley’s personal thirty-year struggle with anorexia and bulimia has informed her work concerning body image, which has appeared in “Dance in Canada” magazine and in York University’s International Women’s Studies Journal.

This book was provided for review by Tundra Books.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Our Corner Grcoery Store Review

PUB DATE: April 2009

Thank You to Tundra Books and Sylvia for sending us this book to read and review.

If you remember my last review about Tundra Books I was inquiring about the jacket of the book and Sylvia kindly emailed me to let know that in fact this was only on Tundra Books. They are called posters. I think this is a great feature of the books.

This was such a fun book to read and the illustrations were fantastic. Michael really enjoyed the book. He loved naming everything in the pictures. We talked about the price of the items.

Anna Maria is a little girl who loves to help her grandparents in their grocery store on Saturdays. Its a very small grocery store. She helps to arrange fruits and vegetables, greet the customers that come in and making sure the store in clean and neat. From the book we learn through all the customers coming in how this store is needed in the community.

There is even a kitchen attached to the grocery store. They make sandwiches for the customers to buy. They are a busy grocery store from the time they open till the close. They sell all kinds of fruits, vegetables, breads, milk etc in the store.

This is a great book that makes you appreciate those little independant grocery stores.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Lime Green Secret Review

PUB DATE: February 2009

Gloria is the happiest little girl because she is the flower girl in her sister’s Fran wedding. She has a brand new satin gown, (its really pretty) long white gloves, brand new shiny white shoes, pretty lace socks and even a tiara.

Her mother has warned her that she is not to wear or play with the dress until the day of the wedding. Gloria has a hard time because at night time the dress hanging on the back of the door looks like a hovering radiant angel in flight.

Even when she plays she can’t stop thinking about her outfit. She can conduct better in the white gloves. The the next day she can’t leave the white shoes at home so she sneaks off to school in them and cleans them after school. She gets caught fixing the tiara and her mother is upset. Then one day she dresses up in the whole outfit and spots her friend outside so she sneaks out the show her and her friends at the park. She feels like a queen until her cousin comes to the park. She is scared and runs home. Telling her dolls and animals that she will never do it again decides to have a tea party with lime soda. Accidentally she feels a cup with too much soda she goes to drink it put it spills on her dress. Scared she doesn’t tell anyone and hangs it up with stain inside. When the day of the wedding comes she discovers that her bouquet will cover the stain and no one will notice until the bride throws her bouquet. Fran and Gloria are more alike then they knew.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Georgia Graham, born and raised in Calgary, has been a compulsive drawer as long as she can remember. Throughout grade school, she filled up endless sketch books and margins of scribblers with doodles and characters. She graduated from the Visual Communications program at the Alberta College of Art in 1982. The Lime Green Secret is the eleventh book she has illustrated and the third she has written. She visits elementary schools, mostly in Alberta, demonstrating her drawing techniques and sharing her love of writing and illustrating. She enjoys Bible storytelling at her church and at camp. Georgia is a self-proclaimed introvert who loves people and talks too much. She lives on a tree farm in central Alberta with her husband and her dog, Ginger, who is depicted in this book.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Bradley McGogg The Very Fine Frog Review


PUB DATE: March 2009

Thanks to Tundra Books and Sylvia for sending this book to us.

This was another cute book that Michael enjoyed listening too.

The book is about a lazy frog named Bradley who lives in log. This has been the frogs home since he was a polliwog. One hot summer day Bradley looks in the mirror to see he is wasting away. He is hungry. He went to his cupboard but there was no food. He has no idea where the food all went.

He decided that he has new neighbors that he should meet and he decides he will ask them for food. The first person he sees is Miss Mouse. He asks her for food and says he will pay her tomorrow. They go into the house and all she has is cheese with chives and peppercorn and rye crackers. Bradley is disgusted by what he sees and leaves. The next neighbor he meets his Herr Bear and Herr Hare. The offer Bradley carrots in honey. Of course Bradley doesn’t like that either. Bradley spot a cow and was watching her eat the grass. He walked right by without stopping. He goes back home hungry. When he enters his house he is happy there is all kinds of bugs. A frogs favorite food. He feasted on bugs whiling thinking about the strange things the animals ate.

Michael actually thought that the other animals are pretty good stuff and that the frog ate gross things and that he would be disgusted to eat bugs.

If you would like to order a copy for yourself you can go here to order it http://www.tundrabooks.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780887768644

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

A Wizard in Love Review


PUB DATE: Feb 2009

AGE RANGE: 4 and up

Thanks to Tundra Books and Sylvia for sending this book to us.

This is a cute book that we both loved reading together. The story was really cute and the illustrations were well done.

The story is about Hector a retired wizard. He is living happily in a run down house at the end of the forest. He is a lazy wizard who naps and stays away from contact with people except his cat Poison. When they aren’t napping they are watching tv and eating cookies.

Then one morning everything comes to a halt when a noisy neighbor moves in next door. He pulls open the shutters and sees that the house across the street is all spruced up. He goes over and peeks into the window. He spots a beautiful woman singing as she plays the piano. This makes Hector angry.

Hector rushes back home to his attic for his magic spell book. Hector and Poison cook an “evil cake” to get rid of her. The cake looks really gross in the picture. Hector arranges the cake on a platter and he picks a handful of flesh eating flowers.

Hector heads across the street but Hector’s plan falls when the neighbor answers the door. Her name is Isobel and she has a beautiful voice. Her voice is described as “It was clear as water in a babbling brook and gay as a song of a bird.” Hector was no longer angry. He was in love.

It was great to see the change in the illustrations. At the beginning they were dark and Hector appeared dirty and grumpy and as the story went on the images got brighter and Hector appeared happy and clean looking.

If you would like to order the book you can go through here: http://www.tundrabooks.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780887769016

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.